Deer Grove hike

Despite the forecast for possible showers, we met Dave and Patti and Len and Marlene for lunch at Alemar's in Palatine and then hiked 4 miles in Deer Grove Forest Preserve, and as was the case yesterday, the weather-guessers were wrong again and we had a nice Fall afternoon hike in a lovely color-changing forest.

The dense tree cover of Cook County's first and oldest forest preserve shielded us from the 30 mph winds and a few sprinkles did not mar the hike. In fact, we were unzipping jackets halfway through the 70 minute trek.

The oaks were still green but the maples were ablaze in all their autumn glory, making me glad that I had brought my camera.



We observed three of the namesake deer on the hike. They were shy and far off the trail, but 2 of them can be seen here.

Marlene mugs for the camera. Dave doesn't.